There are now a record number of women in Congress, and several of them are from Michigan.
Representative Elissa Slotkin (D-Holly) now represents Michigan’s 8th Congressional District. She’s one of dozens of new women – including women of color – starting their terms. Slotkin says they’re changing the look of Congress.
“I mean, I can’t tell you how many times we’ve been walking down the hall and someone thinks that I’m a staffer to a member of Congress,” she says.
She says Congress will now act differently too.
“A group of us were elected with a mandate to change. That the status quo of the Congress is not what we intend on preserving. And that makes for a great activist class and women are leading that fight, for sure,” she says.
Representatives Haley Stevens and Rashida Tlaib were also sworn in during a ceremony in D.C. They join fellow congresswomen Debbie Dingell and Brenda Lawrence of Michigan.